What’s Your Color Season?

If you’ve ever wondered why some colors make your eyes pop while others wash you out, or why gold jewelry flatters your complexion but something looks off with silver, perhaps it’s time to figure out your color season. The analysis involves categorizing your eye, skin, and hair colors into four main groups: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. These groups can be further divided into cool vs. warm, light vs. dark, and bright vs. soft. 

By narrowing down these categories into a specific season type (e.g., bright winter instead of just winter), you can determine what color palettes best harmonize with and complement your features, which will make shopping for clothes and accessories — plus getting ready in the morning — so much easier.

The Theory Behind Your Perfect Color Season 

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of a bright autumn vs. a soft winter, we need to look at some basic color theory first. Fashion stylist Ellie-Jean Royden offers a comprehensive color theory guide on YouTube that breaks down the basic color categories into which we can group our skin, hair, and eye colors. 

Using natural light and no makeup, take note of where your skin, hair, and eye color fall in the three categories below. Platinum blond hair will be cool, light, and bright, whereas auburn hair will be warm, light, and soft. Hazel eyes are normally warm, soft, and dark, and gray eyes are typically cool, light, and soft — and so on. 

• Warm vs. Cool
  • Warm tones have more red, like true red, yellow, and orange. Cool tones have more blue, like true blue, green, and purple. 
• Dark vs. Light
  • Dark tones are closer to black on the color spectrum, whereas light tones are closer to white on the color spectrum. 
• Soft vs. Bright
  • Bright tones tend to be a truer version of their base color, while soft tones have more gray and brown undertones. For example, lime green would be considered a bright green, but sage green would be considered a soft green. 

Because not every person will fall perfectly into one distinct category based on these classifications alone, Royden recommends ordering your features from most to least dominant. If you have thick, dark hair that dominates your overall look, your hair might be your most dominant feature. If you have striking light-blue eyes, your dominant feature is likely your eyes. Our dominant features help determine which color season suits us best. 

A General Breakdown of Color Seasons 

Fashion psychologist and style theory enthusiast Ellie Richards broke down the four primary season categories onl TikTok, starting with spring. Spring seasons typically have warm undertones with light features, whereas summer seasons have cool undertones with light features. Autumn seasons have warm undertones and dark features; winter seasons have cool undertones and dark features. But remember — these are general classifications. 

According to Royden, these seasons can be broken down further into 12 overall categories:

• Bright Spring: warm, dark, and bright 
• True Spring: warm, medium light, medium bright
• Light Spring: warm, light, and soft
  
• Light Summer: cool, light, and bright 
• True Summer: cool, medium light, medium soft 
• Soft Summer: cool, dark, and soft
  
• Soft Autumn: warm, light, and soft 
• True Autumn: warm, medium dark, and medium soft 
• Dark Autumn: warm, dark, and bright
  
• Dark Winter: cool, dark, and soft
• True Winter: cool, medium dark, and medium bright 
• Bright Winter: cool, light, and bright 

How To Find Which Color Season Is Right for You 

With a basic understanding of color theory, you can find a useful approximation of which color season might work best for you by simply looking in a mirror, taking a few notes, and determining which category best suits you. If you’re struggling to determine whether you’re cool or warm, you can also look at the veins in your arm. Cool undertones will have veins that appear more blue, while warm undertones will have veins that appear more green. 

However, the best way to ensure an accurate color season analysis is to visit a professional. Color analysis consultations involve placing swatches of different fabrics under your face and seeing how each shade affects your overall appearance. Does a certain color make your skin look vibrant or washed out? Do specific colors emphasize under-eye circles or hyperpigmentation? A professional analyst can help answer these questions for you. 

How Color Seasons Can Help Inform Your Style 

Knowing your ideal color season can help you determine what clothing, jewelry, makeup, and hair colors best complement your features. Choosing shades in your season can help even your skin tone, make you appear more radiant, and increase your confidence. However, it’s important to remember that style is subjective. If you prefer colors outside of your color season and wearing those shades makes you feel good, then by all means, go for it.

“It’s OK to wear a color just because you like it,” Royden said in her tutorial. “And if it brings you joy, you don’t have to just wear colors that work for your features. It depends on what your motivations are when you get dressed every day and what makes you happy.” 

Whether you decide to base your style decisions on your ideal color palette or color outside of these lines, what’s most important is that what you’re wearing makes you feel good. That will translate to your external appearance every time, no matter if you’re a true winter, soft spring, bright summer, or something in between.